When it comes to managing temporary staffing, an increasing number of NHS providers are now choosing Neutral Vendor agreements over traditional Master Vendor agreements.

There are advantages to both models, but Neutral Vendor models are particularly suited for niche or hard-to-fill areas, where it is important to maintain relationships with existing specialist suppliers.

Neutral Vendors are also more incentivised to find innovative ways to reduce staffing costs, and with NHS England planning to cut ICB staffing budgets by 30% by 2025, procurement teams are now advocating the use of models with the best potential for cost savings.

Neutral Vendor models also sit very well alongside Managed Staff Banks, as a Neutral Vendor provider managing both can put a specific focus on migrating workers from agency to bank.

How does a Neutral Vendor Managed Service differ from a Master Vendor Agreement?

Whilst a Master Vendor agreement has one main supplier managing all vacancies, and getting the first option to fill them before they are released to a second tier, a Neutral Vendor agreement sees one workforce solutions provider releasing bookings to all agency suppliers at the same time.

Whereas Master Vendors get most of their fees through sourcing and supplying temporary workers, Neutral Vendors purely charge a management fee for delivering the service. When compared directly, Neutral Vendor fees appear to be more expensive, but the savings delivered are typically higher as the model encourages more competition and providers are more incentivised to reduce costs, often by driving down reliance on high-cost agencies or migrating workers from temp to perm or bank.

How does it work? 

A Neutral Vendor forms a network of partner agency suppliers and releases all vacancies to their network simultaneously, aiming to find the most suitable and cost-effective candidates to fill shifts.

Litmus typically deploys a team of workforce specialists, often based onsite, with a dedicated focus on filling vacancies and providing recruitment help and industry advice to hiring managers.

Our central supply chain management team maintains the relationship with all agency suppliers, releasing vacancies, ensuring candidates are paid promptly and conducting regular audits to ensure all contractual and compliance requirements are being met.

One single system is used to manage rotas, authorisations, timesheets and consolidated invoicing, and management teams have a single point of contact for all suppliers. Cost savings are benchmarked and reported on monthly, with a detailed MI dashboard to show where further cost savings could be achieved.